John and Edward - Planet Jedward (Universal Music)

Wayne Madden | Monday, 26 July 2010

Never before has an album been reviewed with such uncertainty. On the one hand, Jedward are a pair of Irish twins who sound American, and can neither sing nor dance. On the other hand, they rival Laurel and Hardy, for being perhaps the Greatest Comedy Duo of our Generation.

Planet Jedward is a collection of covers from a variety of sources. Whether, they're from film scores or punk bands, these songs are about as well known as they get. The inlay cover is, quite frankly, shocking - with John and Edward pictured doing all these absurd moves in an attempt to create some kind of logic.

Jedward have apparently taken singing lessons, and their chorus in 'Candy' proves they can hold a note once and a while, while most of the songs also have this rather bizarre 'background commentary' in which Edward and John will chat about what is going on.

One perfect example is 'Ghostbusters', in which neither John nor Edward repeat any of the lyrics of this track - and instead simply talk about "having each other's backs and busting ghosts." It's at this point you get the mental image of Louis Walsh dancing around in his underwear listening to this on the i-Pod at 2am. And how many of Jedward's fans will get the "cockroach on 12" reference?

Truth be told, a lot of the more dance orientated tracks, 'I Like To Move It' and 'Jump', reflect the more party nature of this album, albeit a children's party as opposed to the floor of a nightclub. It's almost comical listening to 'Under Pressure' mixed with Vanilla Ice's 'Ice Ice Baby', knowing Freddie Mercury is directly profiting from it. If he was still with us, I am sure he would approve, and probably take it with the good nature that it's meant.

The luck of the Irish has certainly foretold that John and Edward might not have a musical future, and that's debatable, and they might never write a song of their own. But one thing is certain - they've produced an album that's just plain fun, and something your 8-year-old niece is bound to love (and that you'll probably play in the car secretly on the way to giving it to her!).